With children out of school, there are plenty of people in Oklahoma who take long road trips over the summer. Unfortunately, summertime also sees an increase in the number of car accidents. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that car and motorcycle crashes are the leading causes of traumatic brain injuries that require hospitalization.
With this in mind, it’s important for car crash victims to be examined for a concussion as soon as possible. This will help reduce the chance of a false diagnosis. Concussions are hard to detect because symptoms arise at different times for different people: sometimes minutes after the crash, sometimes days. Symptoms include exaggerated changes in mood, a loss or diminishing of cognitive function and slurred speech.
Doctors can test accident victims on their memory, word recall, balance, coordination and ability to count backward, among other things. Those who fail this test are likely to have a concussion or even a severe TBI.
Those who incur a TBI will experience bleeding, and if the bleeding is not stopped and the pressure relieved, it can cause serious, irreversible brain damage. For this reason, experts further recommend that those who are diagnosed with a concussion keep track of their injuries. Persistent symptoms may be a sign of a TBI.
Victims of car accidents will typically have to wait until they have reached maximum medical improvement in order to file their personal injury claim. At the same time, there is a two-year statute of limitations to abide by. A lawyer might evaluate the claim and hire investigators and other experts to show how the other driver was guilty. The lawyer may then see if the auto insurance company is willing to settle out of court. If they are unwilling, the case might go to court.